Help on a AK 47 Sword....

jeepdude1

jeepdude1

Joined
Aug 26, 2004
Messages
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What would the best way to sharpen my Busse AK 47 sword ? All i have is a Spyderco sharpmaker and a Gatco 3 stone kit...... Any help would be appreciated.....
 
I think the easiest way with what you said you have is to use the Sharpmaker in its stone form, not the V form.
 
If I had to sharpen something that big, it'd be by mount the knife to a table and using my DMT benchstones by hand. Could do the same thing with the sharpmaker stones too. Holding the knife would get tiresome and probably be less precise. What or get a quote from a professional knife sharpener lol.
 
barring a zombie infestation or being stranded in the wilderness, send it in to the factory.

WIN!
 
I thought he wanted it sharp. Have the factory edges gotten better recently? The last Busse blade I purchased was a sar5, and while it came with a sharpness test sheet, it was not what I would describe as sharp. As a matter of fact, I would not send any that I own back to be brought back to factory sharpness.

I would do as stated above and clamp the knife in a vice and work a stone by hand. Then unclamp and strop.
 
hlee said:
I thought he wanted it sharp. Have the factory edges gotten better recently? The last Busse blade I purchased was a sar5, and while it came with a sharpness test sheet, it was not what I would describe as sharp. As a matter of fact, I would not send any that I own back to be brought back to factory sharpness.

I would do as stated above and clamp the knife in a vice and work a stone by hand. Then unclamp and strop.
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Every post I've seen here about sending knives into the shop to have them sharpened is the same, they come back air-bleeding sharp.

I'm sure when they're going out of the shop the crew is focusing on getting out a great knife as quickly as they can, which they do every single time. Some will not be as sharp as others, all mine are hair shaving sharp right from the factory, and I'm waiting on my 4th and 5th Busses (KZIILE and CABS).

IMO the shop is the first place I'd send it to be sharpened. If they're focusing on making them sharp, be careful when you get it back, swing it around too much and you'll split an atom and blow your neighborhood up.
 
With a blade that length, probably easiest to sharpen by moving the stone over the edge, rather than vice versa. Depending on your skill level, you might want to send it to the shop.

Easiest will be paper wheels, or slack belt sander. 30 for a harbor freight belt disk combo is probably the most cost effective. If you already have a bench grinder the paper wheels are great from what I hear.
 
hlee said:
I thought he wanted it sharp. Have the factory edges gotten better recently? The last Busse blade I purchased was a sar5, and while it came with a sharpness test sheet, it was not what I would describe as sharp. As a matter of fact, I would not send any that I own back to be brought back to factory sharpness.
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sure - some of the production knives that ship have less than stellar edges - but I have never heard anyone complain about the sharpness of a knife that came out of the CS or one that had been sent back - and to suggest a fear of sending one in in general and/or that sending it back wouldn't get the desired results is overstating the 'problem' by a metric **language** ton.

/drift
 
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Mousepad & sandpaper; 120, 400, 600 grit and a few passes on a strop loaded with green compound. If you can't cut it with that you shouldn't have hit it the first time...
 
Bro, bring that down my way and we'll put it on the paper wheels. I'll have that thing razor sharp in no time and for free. :thumbup:
 
hlee said:
I thought he wanted it sharp. Have the factory edges gotten better recently? The last Busse blade I purchased was a sar5, and while it came with a sharpness test sheet, it was not what I would describe as sharp. As a matter of fact, I would not send any that I own back to be brought back to factory sharpness.

I would do as stated above and clamp the knife in a vice and work a stone by hand. Then unclamp and strop.
Click to expand...

My experience is limited, but I have moved four knives into and out of the shop. Each came back sharper than I can achieve without an enormous amount of effort (and quite a few nicks -- to me).

So, for me at least, I'm quite happy.

Oh. A few Customs I bought came to me with excellent edges.

Hope that helps.
 
jeepdude1 said:
Does anyone know how much they charge and the turn-around time ?
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Time? Depends entirely on how busy they are.

I can't recall taking long, except once when I had to have a very large chunk of INFI completely reconditioned. But that was much more than just a sharpening job.
 
oeser said:
Bro, bring that down my way and we'll put it on the paper wheels. I'll have that thing razor sharp in no time and for free. :thumbup:
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I would pick up on Oeser's offer and learn at the same time how to do it .... there is great satisfaction in putting a great edge on a knife .... almost "theraputic" IMO .... and if you're going to own it for a while and use it .... it makes sense having your own "skills" to sort it .... :thumbup:
 
All of the last 6 or 7 I've purchased have had an excellent coarse edge on them. For hard use, where you may be chopping dirt or cutting or chopping something you probably shouldn't be, the Busse edge is pretty dang optimum.

I'm careful to only chop things I should chop, so I spend mucho time sharpening mine to a highly polished edge with diamond plates & waterstones. I'd hate to try to freehand a blade this large with anything less than 8" diamond plates or stones.

If I was away from home (or my waterstones) and had to resharpen it, and only had a 4" - 6 " stone, I would sit down and run the stone along the edge of the blade (Jimmy Fikes demonstrates sharpening using this method in his cutting video). Maybe finish with a few strokes at my typical 15 degrees off perpindicular strokes to get some teeth, or maybe not. To be honest I've never had to do this because I'm careful to only hit wood or vines (no dirt or rocks!), and a Busse will stay sharp all day long chopping wood (as will almost every one of my big choppers:)).

Sharpening with power equipment is not therapy for me (maybe if I was sharpening or grinding 30 knives it could be). Sharpening by hand with stones is much closer to therapy for me! ;)
 
For a blade that long, if it were mine, I would not hesitate to put it to the belt sander. Electro-mechanical Zen!

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If it works on a Waki, it will work on an AK! :D
 
Horn Dog said:
For a blade that long, if it were mine, I would not hesitate to put it to the belt sander.
If it works on a Waki, it will work on an AK! :D
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:thumbup: An HF 1x30 belt grinder is cheap and functional. Does great on my Ruck and Waki, and most other knives, big and small, Busse or not.
 
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